NT - Litchfield National Park

The beauty about this park is that it is small with most of the natural features easily accessible with a 2WD vehicle and it is only 129 klms south of Darwin.

The area is dominated by a huge sandstone plateau with numerous cascading waterfalls,
plunge pools, pockets of dense monsoon rainforest, termite mounds and interesting eroded outcrops.


We stayed here for three days. Each morning we would drive, and/ or walk to one of the many waterfalls, have a swim and then back to the caravan for lunch. After lunch we would spend the afternoon relaxing at Wangi Falls which has two spectacular waterfalls and a massive swimming hole ( crocodile free!) and only a five minute drive from our campsite. (We just found out that Wangi Falls has been closed for three days. . . . .they found a crocodile!!!)


Upon entering the park there is a valley with many gigantic termite mounds that stand up to two metres in height. The mounds’ thin edges point north-south, minimising their exposure to the sun and keeping the mounds cool for the termites. Fascinating! The area looks like a grave yard of large grey tomb stones.



I never get tired of seeing waterfalls. We saw six while we here and each has its own special beauty. We went on a couple of 4WD tracks and we crossed one stream that was about half a metre deep so that kept Mike happy as he drove us from waterfall to waterfall.

NT-Cahills Crossing

The East Alligator River forms the north eastern boundary between Kakadu National Park and Arnhem Land. The river is very dirty and full of crocodiles, barramundi and catfish.
Cahill’s Crossing is the only way to drive into Arnhem land from Kakadu and watching people crossing this river can be entertaining, especially at high tide when the water is running very quickly.



On the incoming tide the salt water and the barramundihead upstream. Towards the top of the tide the water rushes across the crossing and the crocodiles patrol the waters with their mouths open waiting for the unsuspecting barra. Occasionally cars and crocodiles are trying to cross and the same time. The crocodiles usually turn around and wait for the cars to pass.
Mike fished here once but was so concerned with the prowling crocs that he couldn't relax enough to enjoy the fishing.

NT-Arnhem land

Arnhem Land has restricted entry and the only two ways to get there is with a tour or by obtaining a permit. Its population is predominantly Aboriginal people, whose traditional culture remains largely intact. We spent one day on a guided tour and had a local take us to rock art sites and explain the paintings which were incredibly detailed, some dating back many thousands of years. We viewed a burial site which still had the bones intact but were not allowed to take photos in this sacred area.






Our guide Thomo is a lovely gentle man, as most of the Aborigines here seem to be. They are very shy and will only speak to you if you start the conversation. Thomo is also an artist and we were fortunate to be able to buy one of his paintings.



We enjoyed this visit to Arnhem land so much that we purchased a permit and drove in ourselves for a second visit. The permits are very strict, you must drive straight to your destination with no stopping on the way. We visited the art centre and watched some of the men painting, most of them sitting on the ground. In this region the men paint and each art work is a cultural story. The women weave baskets from grasses that they collect and colour with local dyes. They are so patient and their work is so detailed.

During the dry season the locals are busy burning off the scrub so the sky is usually a little hazy from the smoke. Arnhem land is a wonderful place, you can feel something special when you drive across the river and enter this area of wetlands, escarpments, lush green grasses and wildlife everywhere. The Aboriginees here still hunt and gather and are working at keeping their culture alive. The entire area is alcohol free as they know how destructive it is for their people. The closest place for them to buy alcohol is over two hundred kilometres away. We would love to visit more of Arnhem Land, maybe next time.

NT - Kakadu

Kakadu covers an area of 20,000 very diverse square kilometres. Rainforests, wetlands, tidal flats, plunging waterfalls, huge tidal rivers, and massive vertical cliffs are all part of the magic of Kakadu.



Billabongs and wetlands at this time of year are full of bird life, water lilies and crocodiles. One morning we went on a boat tour to the Yellow Water Wetlands where we saw about ten crocodiles cruising the waterways for their favourite food, barramundi.



The Aboriginal culture here at Kakadu is very strong and many of the tours are with Aboriginal guides. Some of the rock art is dated at over 20,000 years old, is incredibly well preserved and very detailed. We climbed Ubirr rock, where much of this art work is painted.. From here you can see the huge escarpments in the distance which border Arnhem Land.

While staying in the National Park there is always something to do and see. Our car has been on many four wheel drive tracks while here and once again for Mike’s enjoyment, lots of water crossings. Our deepest one this time was 60cm which had me very nervous.

The weather has been hot every day between 30 and 35 degrees so we get our walks in early. Most of the walks into the gorges, waterfalls and swimming holes are only about 2 kilometres but clambering over huge boulders in the heat can really zap your energy. The camp grounds we stayed at had resort style swimming pools so we spent the afternoons lazing around them.





The two Uranium mines, Ranger and Jabiluka are located near the main township of Jabiru. We drove out to the Ranger mine one day and typical of all mines has huge trucks, piles of slag, and a deep hole. The only thing that we didn’t see is how they take the uranium out of here. There are no train lines so it must be moved by truck. Beside the mine is a beautiful billabong where we saw our first close up of a Jabiru. It is interesting that with all the ugliness of the mine, beauty is right next door.

NT-Katherine

We spent three days in Katherine visiting local sites including the beautiful Edith Falls and swimming holes. We then moved out to the National Park camping area beside Nitmiluk Gorge (formerly Katherine Gorge) and spent four wonderful nights there.

Nitmiluk Gorge is a maze of waterways sculptured from the sandstone over countless millennia by the Katherine River. There is 13 gorges making up this stretch and we took a boat tour on three of them and swam in one of the pools between gorges one and two. As fresh water crocodiles are in the area you never feel relaxed while swimming.




There are many walks throughout the park so you can keep yourself very busy and fit during your stay.

WA-Lake Argyle

This man made lake is Australia’s largest body of freshwater and is 91 times larger than Sydney Harbour. This inland sea was created by damming the Ord River, forming a storage reservoir to supply the huge irrigation schemes in the Kununurra area. The power produced by this dam supplies electricity to much of the Kimberley region.

What was once “Argyle Downs”, a million acre cattle station, originally owned by the famous Durak family, now lies at the bottom of this lake. The Durak family homestead, built by the family in 1895, was dismantled stone by stone, rebuilt and is now a museum not far from Lake Argyle Village.

Lake Argyle Village is the only place to stay on the lake. There are camping sites, cabins and a restaurant. The infinity swimming pool set on the cliff has a breathtaking view of the lake and the cliffs.

This area is a man made marvel. The lake is roughly 75klms x 45 klms and is home to almost 1/3 of Australia’s bird species and has a wetland area. We spent an afternoon cruising the lake seeing many of these birds and crocodiles. A very relaxing and beautiful place to stay only 70klm east of Kununurra and 7klm from the WA and NT border.

WA-Kununurra

Kununurra was established as a town in 1960 to service the Ord River Scheme. The Ord River was dammed in 1971 to form a storage reservoir supplying water to the many farms by gravity fed irrigation channels. This area is now very lush with mangoes, sandalwood forests, cotton, sugar cane, melons and countless other fruits and vegetables.

Ivanhoe crossing is a delightful picnic and fishing spot on the Ord River. We watched people drive their vehicles back and forth just to see if they could manage the low lying crossing. The most entertaining was a ute with children in the back, watching the crocodile lying on the rocks in the middle of the river. This is apparently a good spot to catch barramundi but nobody had any luck the two days that we were here.

Another attraction is the local Argyle Diamond mine which produces approx. 38 million carots of diamonds a year - one third of the world’s production, making Argyle the largest diamond mine in the world. The diamonds are stunning with clear, champagne and pinks. I found one that I liked but we would have had to sell the car- not a good move! The mine will run out of diamonds in the near future so now would be a good time to buy one.